Trump Reportedly Has Narrowed His Vice President List To First Choice And Close Second

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said he would be announcing his running mate at the GOP convention in Cleveland later this month, but it appears he may have changed his mind and decided to do it sooner.

The Washington Post reports former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia is the New York billionaire’s top choice, with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie right behind him.

This report comes on the heels of an interview Gingrich did with Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace in which he claimed the Trump campaign had not spoken to him at all.

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Despite this, a Trump campaign source told the Post that Gingrich is being “seriously considered,” and The New York Times reported that Christie has already received paperwork to be vetted.

The Post reported that Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress, who has become close with Trump during the campaign, said the GOP candidate has made it clear that he “wants someone who can help get his legislative agenda through Congress.”

“I think that is how he is going,” Jeffress said. “He’d be coming in as an outsider, and that has fueled his popularity. But he is the first to admit that he doesn’t know all the ways of Washington. So to actually push what he wants through, he’s willing to reach out and get somebody to lend a hand.”

Christie, a longtime friend of the Republican candidate, quickly endorsed Trump after dropping his own bid for president several months ago. Since that time, the governor has become one of the New York billionaire’s most loyal surrogates and trusted behind-the-scenes confidants.

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In fact, he has been so loyal to Trump that following a press conference several months ago where the normally bombastic Christie was silent, social media blew up jokingly wondering if Christie had been taken hostage by the Trump campaign. The governor was quick go dispel those rumors. “I want everyone to know for those who were concerned: I wasn’t being held hostage,” he said.

Christie is a lot like Trump in that he is an outspoken personality from a Northeastern blue state, but he also has nearly two full terms as governor under his belt, which fulfills the businessman’s reported desire for government experience.

Gingrich fulfills that need as well, having been a longtime congressman and speaker of the House of Representatives. The Georgia-based Republican, who ran for his party’s nomination in 2012, was one of Trump’s biggest supporters early on. Gingrich is also similar to Trump and Christie in that he is widely known for speaking his mind.

In fact, he has even done so against Trump recently, something many believed would hurt his chances of being selected as the billionaire’s running mate.

Referring to the presumptive Republican nominee’s attacks on the federal judge ruling in the Trump University case who is of Mexican heritage, Gingrich called it “completely unacceptable,” adding, “I thought it was inappropriate what he said.”